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Ocean Plaza hotel responsible for missing Tybee dune

Dash Coleman/Savannah Morning News

A sign in front of the Ocean Plaza Beach Resort on Tybee Island warns beachgoers to keep out of dune areas. On Wednesday, the hotel took responsibility for moving sand from a dune in March that was the subject of an investigation by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Coastal Resources Division.

The Ocean Plaza Beach Resort confirmed Wednesday it was responsible for the disappearance of a Tybee Island sand dune in front of the hotel.

In a prepared statement released by the law firm Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge, and Rice, Ocean Plaza CEO Harry Spirides said the incident that occurred more than four months ago was accidental.

The release states a group of workers were clearing a handicap-accessible walkway to and from the beach of sand the dune had spilled over onto it.

The workers cleared some sand from the top of the dune, it said, to keep the walkway clear in the future. But they cleared too much.

Georgia’s Shore Protection Act prohibits the disturbance of sand dunes without a permit.

“We had absolutely no ill intent here — our motivation was simply to improve public access to the beach,” Spirides said in the statement. “We take full responsibility for relocating too much sand from the walkway area. In the future we will receive appropriate clearance from the (Georgia Department of Natural Resources) before we take any steps to clear the walkway.”

Mark Schamel, a lawyer with the firm representing the hotel, said Spirides has agreed to pay a $100 citation issued by the DNR’s Coastal Resources Division.

The hotel will also pay any costs the DNR determines will be needed to repair the dune, Schamel said.

Buck Bennett, compliance and enforcement manager for the CRD, could not be reached by telephone on Wednesday. He said earlier this week that sand was not taken from the location, just shoveled to each side of the dune system.

A then-unidentified Tybee Island resident, Bennett said, had admitted to clearing the dune described as 30 feet wide by 20 feet, with a height of 4-5 feet.

Spirides fully cooperated with the DNR’s investigation, Schamel said.

“Harry fully understands the DNR and respects how professionally they’ve handled this,” he said. “It was a valuable lesson learned in following proper procedures.”